Character sketch of jerome

Jerome is the narrator of the novel 'Three Men in a Boat'. He is single, middle-class man living in London. He is fond of history and literature, and spends much of his time day-dreaming about the days when knights roamed the countryside of England. This day-dreaming sometimes gets him into trouble when he does not pay attention to what he is doing.

His sense of observation is quite sharp. He has a wonderful knack of describing incidents in humorous ways. He misses no opportunity to make readers laugh with his intelligent and indirect humour. He does this through his anecdotes. His description of his imagined illnesses is quite humorous! Equally humorous is his description of the Haymarket Scene, and Montomerency’s encounter with the Tom cat.

Jerome prefers country peace and serenity to city's noisy and restless life. He believes river should remain open to everyone. He condemns those who put up 'no trespassing' signs or try to restrict the use of the river. At times he gets philosophical and gives the readers some valuable gems of wisdom. For example his advice on how a man should journey through life is worth heeding.

His sensitivity comes to light when in chapter XVI he describes the pathetic incident of seeing a corpse of a young, beautiful woman. His description touches the readers’ heart; he does not hesitate satirizing society in which prevail so many evils.